Fountain pay package to delay naming of coaches

LAHORE The finalisation of pay package for Julian Fountain may delay the announcement of coaching staff for Pakistan cricket team, it is reliably learnt. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keen to have fielding coach Julian Fountain on board before the Test and ODI series against England but issues over the pay package have left the matter unresolved. The pay issue will be settled after the arrival of the PCB chief Zaka Ashraf, who is presently in Singapore to attend the Asian Cricket Council meeting, a source revealed on condition of anonymity on Sunday. The issue will be settled amicably after the arrival of Zaka Ashraf after attending the ACC meeting to be held in this week, the source added. "The Pakistan team management including captain, Misbahul Haq and coach Mohsin Hasan Khan have both conveyed to the board that the fielding coach should be appointed and attached with the team as soon as possible as there is need for marked improvement in the fielding department," a source in the board said. "The board is also ready to appoint Fountain immediately but have not been able to reach an agreement with him over his pay package," the source added. The source said while the PCB was not ready to pay more than $10,000 per month, Fountain was demanding a monthly fee of between $15 to 20,000, the source added. "Once the financial issue is sorted out, the board will want Fountain to join the team immediately for the training camp that will be set up before the Test series against England," the source said. Fountain has worked with the Pakistan Cricket Board before in 2001 and 2006 and is considered one of the finest fielding coaches around in the cricket world. Meanwhile, the PCB will send its own curators to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to supervise the preparation of pitches for the Test and one-day series against England next month. "It is a home series for us which we are playing in the UAE. So it is our responsibility to see the preparations of pitches for the series," a board official said. He said although there were qualified curators at the two venues but the Pakistan Board also wanted its own men to be involved in the process of preparing pitches. Pakistan's former captain and coach, Intikhab Alam will also travel to Dubai to sign MoU for the series in UAE. He will also inspect the preparations of pitches for the upcoming three Tests, four ODIs and two T20 matches series scheduled to be played from January 17 onwards. The Pakistan team management had complained about the condition of the pitches in their recent series against Sri Lanka terming them as slow and sluggish. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which has already announced its Test squad, will be sending its players to the UAE in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and they have also scheduled two three-day warm up matches before the Test series starts. The series is being viewed with interest by the PCB since England is the number one Test team and if Pakistan does well against them, it could see a significant improvement in its rankings.